Taylor Swift is seen on Dec. 24, 2014 in New York City.
Taylor Swift knows fully well that haters gonna hate hate hate. Though she might not have anticipated that she'd be targeted with a protest song... by a prog-metal act.
Ben Norton wasn't the only one bothered by the news last week that Taylor had trademarked the phrase "this sick beat," the title of a track from her huge hit album 1989. What the American composer and muso did next was to tread a line many songwriters have walked before him. He worked his worries into song.
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The result, recorded under the moniker Peculate, won't be mentioned in the same breath as the works of Pete Seeger or Billy Bragg, but he gets his point across loud, though not always clear. His 2-minute song "This Sick Beat" contains just those three words -- screamed repeatedly against a mash of supercharged drums and squealing guitars. Hear it below.
Norton shared his thoughts behind the song. "Trademarks are a direct attack on one of the most fundamental and inalienable rights of all: our freedom of speech," the American artist writes. "If you give the bourgeoisie an inch, they will take a mile... and everything else you have in the process. They have already privatized land, water, and words. After language, they will next try to privatize air. But, although the rich can try, they will never truly own the words we use and the language we speak."
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Norton describes himself as a "committed activist," who hopes to "challenge, and help to eventually resolve, these gross obstacles to human progress -- progress for everyone, not just the few."
According to various reports, Taylor has filed to trademark a number of lyrics with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, including "this sick beat". She has yet to respond on the protest song.